WHO-5 Well-Being Index: Assessing Mental Wellness

The WHO-5 Well-Being Index is a short self-report tool that measures current mental well-being. Doctors use this five-item survey to screen for depression and track quality of life.

WHO-5 Well-Being Index PDF questionnaire for assessing subjective well-being
WHO-5

WHO-5 Well-Being Index

Developed by the World Health Organisation, the WHO-5 Well-Being Index is a short questionnaire measuring current mental health. It uses five simple statements to assess how a patient felt over the last two weeks. It's an effective tool for screening depression and tracking well-being in clinical practice.

Category

Mental health
Wellbeing

Disease

Mental Health
Wellbeing
Assessment
Quality of Life

Source

(Topp et al., 2015)

Author Name

World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (1998)

What is WHO-5 Well-Being Index

The WHO-5 Well-Being Index is a widely used questionnaire designed to measure subjective wellbeing. It serves as a reliable tool for screening depression in clinical settings. This short survey consists of five simple statements covering positive mood, vitality, and general interest. It focuses purely on positive feelings rather than negative symptoms. Patients rate how they have felt over the last two weeks using a six point Likert scale ranging from 'at no time' to 'all of the time'. Scores range from zero to five for each item, where higher numbers indicate a better quality of life. The raw score is easily converted to a percentage for interpretation. It takes less than two minutes to complete, making it a handy option for busy clinics. Doctors use it to track progress in mental health plans or general practice. Since it is free and straightforward to score, it is a top choice for research studies and routine checks, helping clinicians spot potential issues early on.

WHO-5 Scoring

The WHO-5 Well-Being Index can be scored using two main approaches: the raw sum and the percentage conversion. 1. Raw Score: You simply add up the five answers, which are rated from 0 to 5 based on feelings over the last two weeks. This gives a total between 0 and 25, where 0 is the worst quality of life and 25 is the best. 2. Percentage Score: To get a standard metric, multiply the raw total by 4. This shifts the scale to 0 to 100. A result below 50 suggests poor emotional health and is a clear sign to screen for depression.

View scoring form

Advantages

Diagnostic accuracy

Enables precise identification of patient health status.

Efficient collection

Streamlines research data gathering process.

Wide applicability

Serves diverse clinical needs effectively.

Outcome tracking

Measures healthcare intervention results systematically.

5
Minutes
5
Questions

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